Meeting Minutes
April 26, 2001
PRESENT: Council Members Campos, Chavez, Cortese, Dando, LeZotte, Reed, Shirakawa, Jr., Williams; Gonzales.
ABSENT: Council Members – Diquisto, Yeager (excused).
STAFF: City Attorney Rick Doyle, Deputy City Manager for Neighborhoods Jim Holgersson, Mayoral Assistants Dustin DeRollo and Olivia Nunez, Assistant City Clerk Nancy Alford, and Legislative Secretary Doris Casey.
Documents filed: (1) Study Session Agenda. (2) Report entitled: Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, Responding to Community Priorities. (3) Hard copies of slide presentation made by Jim Holgersson, Deputy City Manager for Neighborhoods.
STRONG NEIGHBORHOODS
INITIATIVE: Responding to Community Priorities
OUTCOMES
Mayor Gonzales opened the meeting
at 8:15 a.m. and stated the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative (SNI) team will
report on the status of the SNI Program and receive Council input to ensure
that SNI teams have a clear understanding of Council’s vision for implementation
and decisions on emerging themes in neighborhoods.
VOICES FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Using a slide presentation, Jim
Holgersson, Deputy City Manager for Neighborhoods, stated the SNI program will
be presented from the view of the neighborhoods and will address the question
of how implementation efforts compare with the neighborhoods’ visions and how
partnerships between neighborhoods and the City are working. He stated the
challenge is to provide opportunities and build capacity of the neighborhoods
to meet their needs, and to achieve the goals of building strong neighborhoods
and strong families. He stated the task of setting priorities and addressing
long-term challenges will be a continuous improvement process of working in the
neighborhoods.
OVERVIEW OF STRONG
NEIGHBORHOODS
The Initiative – Mark Linder, Director of Parks,
Recreation and Neighborhood Services and Chair of the Strong Neighborhoods
Steering Committee, stated SNI is a partnership of the City, the Redevelopment
Agency and the community with the goal of building clean, safe and attractive
neighborhoods and strong, independent and capable neighborhood organizations.
He stated Staff has supported the creation of ten new Neighborhood Advisory
Committees connecting hundreds of community leaders, deployed 16 neighborhood
teams of City and Agency staff to support communities, developed a neighborhood
focus website, and created a Project Management system to guide implementation
of community priorities.
Neighborhood Planning – Director
of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, James R. Derryberry, in an update
of the planning process of SNI, stated the number of plans which are underway
will detail each communitiy’s perceptions of its assets, needs and priorities,
and are similar to the Neighborhood Revitalization Plans. He stated the first
plans will be completed in the Fall of 2001, six existing Revitalization plans
are being updated, and a number of plans will be completed in the Spring of
2002.
He presented the estimated
timeline for the plans and stated Staff is not driving the timelines but will
work to facilitate the process as neighborhoods are ready to move forward on
their top priorities. He stated neighborhood teams, Council Offices, and Staff
from ten departments, the Redevelopment Agency and the City Attorney’s Office
are working together to make the plans materialize. He stated the teams will
establish a record of objectives important to the community, translate those
broad objectives into discrete action items, identify primary responsibility
and funding sources, and from those action items, the community will prioritize
their top ten needs.
Summarizing community input, Director Derryberry stated residents appreciate neighborhood amenities and the charm and diversity of older buildings, want to protect their architectural heritage, and generally feel safe in their communities. What residents consider important to their well-being are neighborhood associations, service institutions such as churches, and proximity to jobs, services and transit. He stated traffic calming issues are seen as a top priority and child safety, speeding, safe and convenient pedestrian/bicycle routes, and impacts and noise from transit were identified as concerns. Because of street sweeping difficulties and lack of mainte-nance of rental properties and public landscaping, he stated residents see Code Enforcement as an essential service, and due to their concerns about traffic and parking, tend to be skeptical of new development. He stated infrastructure needs of street/sidewalk repair, maintenance of creeks and drainage facilities and curtailing illegal dumping and blight were cited as common interests. He stated neighborhoods identify affordable housing, conveniently located commercial services, open space and recreation opportunities, community centers, youth services, homework centers, skateboard parks, and library services as major needs. As these general themes emerge, he stated Staff’s role is to develop realistic plans showing how each communities’ issues can be addressed and tailored to a specific neighborhood.
RESPONDING TO COMMUNITY
PRIORITIES
Implementation of Community
Priorities – Kip Harkness, member of the Strong Neighborhoods Team,
stated each neighborhood has direct connection to line Staff committed to their
neighborhood and each neighborhood team has a direct connection to Management
Staff who can problem-solve and remove roadblocks to implementation. Parks,
Recreation and Neighborhood Services Director Mark Linder previewed the Project
Tracking Status of the Council-approved plans for the University, Washington,
Rock Springs/Santee, Edenvale and Mayfair communities. Using color-coded
slides, he indicated areas proceeding without problems, areas proceeding with
minor problems, and areas where community expectations cannot be met without
additional resources or significant changes in standard approach. He detailed
progress in the University and Washington Neighbhorhoods, and Joe Mosley,
Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, previewed the Edenvale and Rock
Springs/Santee neighborhoods. Director Linder summarized the implementation
strategy and invited Council comments.
Council Vision of
Implementation – Council Member Chavez expressed concerns
about building greater credibility with the neighborhoods by giving consistent
messages, following through wherever possible, and when not possible, providing
realistic information about delays or failures to act, and to ensure that Staff
is trained to communicate effectively and is supported sufficiently to be
successful in their work. Stating SNI
is an important initiative and implementation is critical, Council Member Reed
expressed the concern that if the City doesn’t successfully implement the plans
after raising resident expectations, there will be great disappointment and
greater loss of confidence in the City. He stated this is a long-term process
and in order to ensure implementation continues into future Councils,
implementation actions should be put into the budget and stipulated for specific
neighborhoods. Using Edenvale as an example of good collaborative efforts,
Council Member Williams stressed the need to continue to have great goals for
this program and for Council to ensure that implementation moves forward.
Mayor Gonzales stated his concerns about implementation of the SNI program are from the perspective of representing the entire City rather than specific districts as do his colleagues, and suggested Council be informed of the Staff contacts for this program and who has the overall responsbility for its successful implementation. Council Member LeZotte stressed the need to provide the teams with the training and tools needed, commented on the balance between not stifling enthusiasm and keeping expectations realistic to avoid disappointment and lack of confidence in the City’s commitment to neighborhoods, and expressed concern about neighborhoods where implementation has not been started. Vice Mayor Shirakawa, Jr., stated SNI alone cannot solve all of the needs, but is one tool among many available to the City, and SNI can add resources to projects already identified and funded from other sources, and fund new projects. He suggested focusing on smaller projects that can be accomplished and educating communities that because larger projects require greater resources, they may be delayed. Council Member Campos stressed that Staff and Council should stay informed on implementation projects in neighborhoods, that Staff should continue working to bring non-English speaking residents into the process, and suggested implementing smaller projects first so communities can see progress. Council Member Dando stressed the need to build trust and stated districts have more in common than differences in what they want accomplished, that it is essential to have a base line budget established for each district so the plans that are developed can become reality. Otherwise, she cautioned the process could raise expectations but fail to accomplish what is promised, creating disappointment and lack of confidence among residents that they will ever see any progress.
Mayor Gonzales stated the comments indicate Council wants collaboration within neighborhoods and to have priorities in place for when neighborhood leadership changes. He noted there is emerging commonality between districts that can allow certain projects to be put on a fast track for implementation. Council recessed at 10:02 a.m. and reconvened at 10:15 a.m., with all present but Diquisto and Yeager. Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Director Mark Linder responded to comments by Council Members regarding the issues of creating trust, realistic outcomes, and managing expectations. He spoke on the commonality among areas, budgeting, training and capacity, building a consistent message and valuing residents’ time. He stated accountability for the program rests with his office and with Jim Holgersson, Deputy City Manager for Neighborhoods, who as SNI leaders are responsible for responding to inquiries. Council Member Cortese addressed the importance of not just getting input but in reporting back to the communities with results, stated in his experience with neighborhood meetings, the City’s consultants were not properly prepared and stressed the need to brief consultants in advance on major City programs, and suggested outreach efforts be proactive in identifying community leadership.
EMERGING THEMES
Transportation – Director
Linder introduced Wayne Tanda, Director of Transportation, who made the
presentation on Clean Streets, Livable Streets, Transit, Attractive
Neighborhoods (Public Portion), using a slide presentation.
In response to inquiries from
Council Member Chavez, Transportation Director Tanda stated Staff will present
to Council in the next several months a timeline and decision sequencing chart
on the transportation and transit-related projects and their implications. Council Member Williams stated some
homeowners have difficulty finding contractors to do sidewalk repair and asked
if Staff can assist in locating available contractors and suggested continued
efforts to address the issue of parked cars impeding street sweeping. Council
Member Reed stressed the importance of coordinating transit projects with the
Valley Transportation Authority, to prevent impacts from VTA construction
projects from destroying the work the City is doing.
Economic and Neighborhood
Development – Attractive Neighborhoods(Private): Steve Emslie, Deputy Director for Code
Enforcement, made the presentation for the Private Portion of the Attractive
Neighborhoods segment. Council
Member Campos requested Council be provided the survey of code violations by
neighborhood. Neighborhood Serving
Business: Redevelopment
Acting Director of Neighborhoods and Industrial Development, Richard Keit, made
the presentation. Council Member LeZotte commented on the value of getting
information on the City’s business programs to the business community and
reminded Agency Staff that the City’s Revolving Loan fund is available to
businesses throughout the City, not just to those in Redevelopment Areas.
Council Member Reed suggested Community Development Block Grant funding may be
a feasible resource for assisting neighborhood businesses. Affordable
Housing: Acting Director of
Housing, Leslye Corsiglia made the presentation. Council Member LeZotte
suggested partnering with Tri-County Apartment Owners Association on issues
like escalating rents, code enforcement, and retaliatory evictions. Council
Member Reed commented that abandoned lots and abandoned buildings throughout
the City have potential for adding to the housing stock if owners could be
encouraged to either restore or market their properties and stressed the
importance of enforcing current regulations on owners of blighted properties;
Staff to report back with an overview of City regulations currently available
to address these issues.
Recreation and Cultural
Services – Parks, Libraries, Community Facilities and Services:
City Librarian Jane Light made
the Staff presentation. Mayor
Gonzales stated it is important that non-SNI areas not be given the impression
SNI areas have opportunities they do not, and suggested educating communities
about the Master Plans that apply to their neighborhood. Council Member
Williams stated it would be desirable if the timeline for building new
libraries could be shortened and implementation moved forward to the extent
possible. Council Member Chavez requested, as SNI reports come to Council,
Staff revisit the need to benchmark overall progress in the SNI program, redefine
roles and responsibility and provide support as participants and roles change,
benchmark the attrition in community teams and develop methods to retain and
attract new participants, ensure that teams stay reflective of their community,
define “best practices” in community outreach and be proactive in
implementation.
WHAT WE HEARD
Summary of Council
Perspective and Closure – Mayor Gonzales stated Council comments
have indicated what Council expects from the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative,
that there is concensus on the need to keep the program moving forward. He
stressed new strategies should be considered and innovative measures used to
increase efficiencies and be successful. He stated Staff’s efforts should be
proactive and creative in moving the program forward and Council is fully
supportive of Staff’s efforts on this initiative.
Mayor Gonzales adjourned the
Study Session at 12:10 p. m.
NANCY ALFORD
ASSISTANT CITY CLERK